Hač́uyargostiþi Priesthood
The Hač́uyargostiþi Priesthood (Mõɀèłɀeok'k'þ) mõʐɘɮəɔk':θ, which means caste of holy men. was a hereditary order and a class as opposed in religions such Christianity in which priesthood is a chosen profession. The priestly caste are called Elder lords, they are the highest caste and the only caste who are permitted to own land. They are permitted to consume human flesh of sinners to help the sinner go to heavan. Women born to the caste are not allowed to lead sermons but they are permitted to give advice to women on subjects such as menstrutions. Becoming a priest The easiest way to become a priest was to born a priest, with both father and mother belonging to the caste. If one is born to just a priestly father then they must fall to their mother's caste and if one only has a mother as a priest then they will be considered part of the caste unless they have grown in lower caste enviroment. A person may be evaluted to the caste of priest through various ways, first is to get a dream which tells or religious prophecy which must be testified by at least four priests and the second is to be a young lord who is too old to fight in wars or to defend their elder lord's land may be rewarded for loyal service with priesthood. A priest goes through a training course which takes around five years to entire decades until the priest is seen as mature another to become a priest. A priest learns to about deeper philosphy and of the ways to rule, priest learns how to master an aspect of life in which he will be priest over. A priest will often have to sacrifice a part of his body such as foreskin or a finger or even an eye. A priest may even offer his life and be burnt alive or stabbed and his body would be mummified and used as way of medition insperer for other priests. The final stage within the priesthood is the nineteen trials. These are done after the priest has made his sacrifice, If a priest fails in these trials then he can no longer be a priest. ranks of the priesthood The priesthood is a ranked organisation with the High priest/Emperor who has both religious and secular power and at the bottom are the newly born deacons and trainee priests. As a priest gains more exprience and knowledge they progess in the rank of the priesthood. Priest are given new rank from senior priests and often replaced deceased priests. A priest is formally given a new rank in often a private ceromony, with various intiation rites. Priests are distingusish by rank through their sash, deacons were no sash, ordained priests were black sashes and grand priests were white sashes whilst the highest ranking priest cheiftains who act as advisors to the high priest wear royal purple sashes.The high priest wears a purple sash with red borders to it. Branches of the priesthood Priests are primarily officials and administrators as well as holy men. Most priests are land owners who study agriculture and pastoralist activities. However there are other kinds of priests such as war priests, development and town planning priests. Priests who are purely spiritual in their duties are called sermon priests. War priests were concical hats decorated with feathers, the development priests wear hats decorated with bones and the sermon priests were hats decorated with silk. Sermon priests are in charge of religious sermons and celebrations, all of the priests are responsible for Oneiromancy, each priest is an accomplished Oneiromancer studying their dreams and the dreams of others to gain inner knowledge of the universe. The Emperor/high priest The emperor is the high priest and thus has ultimate soveriegnty over all land. The land is then given to the elder lords/priests to govern over who employ the young lords to protect it and the vassal knights are employed by the young lords to aid them in times of war. The serfs work directly on the land, the traders, artisans and skilled workers traders create tools for the serfs such as hoes, pitchforks and they also create things like armour, clothes and trinkets for the upper caste members. The Emperor has full life and death over everyone regardless of caste however A emperor rules through the mandate of heaven which can be taken away if he breaks the eternal laws. An Emperor who breaks these laws is often expected to commit sucide through slitting their wrists and then self immoltating or starving to death. The Emperor is chosen by the cheif priests from the previous Emperor's sons or from amongst themselves if the Emperor has no sons. Life as a priest Priests typically start their training at birth learning and become literate in literigucal language of the herder's tongue. Priests learn the holy books and of their hidden meaning when they are young children and learn how to perform animal sacrifices when they are older. Priests then go on to learn their chosen trade and also gain training oneiromancy to become fully trained priests. Priests typically have arranged marriage organised by their fathers. A priest who fails in his duties may choose three fates to be outcasted and stripped of all family ties, titles and wealth, to commit sucide by starvation and self immolation or to become a monk. Priests who die from being martyerd are often saintified and used as objects to dwell thoughts into of life by other priests.